Knesset speaker prefers Palestinians as citizens over divided Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Knesset speaker said he would rather have Palestinians as Israeli citizens than divide the land as part of a two-state solution.

Reuven Rivlin also said Thursday that he did not believe that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be able to live up to his end of a peace agreement, Haaretz reported.

"I would rather Palestinians as citizens of this country over dividing the land up," Rivlin said Thursday during a meeting with Greece’s ambassador to Israel, Kyriakos Loukakis, when asked about a possible peace agreement with the Palestinians, according to Haaretz.

Rivlin has called for improving relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel and has called Israel’s Arab population "an inseparable part of this country."